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RusChemAlliance files five new suits against German banks in Russian court

Earlier, RusChemAlliance managed to recover a total of over 1.1 bln euros from those banks

MOSCOW, September 17. /TASS/. RusChemAlliance (the operator of the project for the construction of a gas processing and liquefaction complex in Ust-Luga in Russia’s Leningrad Region) has filed five new suits against German banks, which refused earlier to pay bank guarantees on the contract with Linde due to sanctions, in the Russian court, according to arbitration cases database.

The Court of Arbitration of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region registered suits by the Russian company against Unicredit Bank, Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank, Bayerische Landesbank and Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg on September 16.

Earlier, RusChemAlliance managed to recover a total of over 1.1 bln euros from those banks.

In May and June 2022, Linde notified RusChemAlliance about the suspension of work under the contract (it acted as an EPC contractor and supplied part of equipment as part of implementation of the complex in Ust-Luga) due to sanctions imposed by the EU. The Russian company did not agree with this position, saying that the sanctions did not cover work under the contract. In particular, EU sanctions only prohibit the supply of equipment for liquefying natural gas, but not equipment for gas processing and the construction of a gas processing plant.

Since works on Linde’s part never resumed, RusChemAlliance terminated the contract with the German company and sent it a claim regarding the existence of a dispute. At the same time, a number of banks were also unable to fulfill their obligations to RusChemAlliance and pay bank guarantees due to sanctions. After this, RusChemAlliance filed claims for recovery against Unicredit Bank AG, Bayerische Landesbank, Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank and Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg totally worth over 1.1 bln euro.

Later, the Arbitration Court of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region fully satisfied the claim of RusChemAlliance against Linde and its structures for a total amount of about 113 bln rubles. The court also turned Linde's shares in its subsidiaries in favor of RusChemAlliance. The dispute concerned the collection of debt from Linde under a contract for design, procurement and construction of a gas processing plant in Ust-Luga. The court also partially satisfied the claim of RusChemAlliance to prohibit Linde from initiating and continuing legal proceedings abroad.

In March, RusChemAlliance also filed another lawsuit against Germany's Linde for 105.5 bln rubles ($1.2 bln) while in July it filed a lawsuit against Linde's American subsidiaries, Linde Inc. and Linde Gas & Equipment Inc.

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